Here’s what the Kansas City Royals’ trade means for center field and the MLB deadline
The Kansas City Royals may have acquired the heir apparent as the everyday center fielder, and they still have their top trade chips as the MLB trade deadline approaches.
Minor league outfielder Drew Waters, who went into this season rated by Baseball America as the No. 6 prospect in the Atlanta Braves farm system and who MLB Pipeline most recently ranked as the Braves’ top prospect, served as the centerpiece of a deal Monday that saw the Royals trade the 35th overall pick in Sunday’s MLB Draft.
That deal will have ramifications for the Royals’ future at that center field position in the long run, but it may also affect decisions in the coming weeks as the club’s front office makes decisions about potentially retooling its roster and augmenting its farm system.
“He’s a plus defender. He’s a true center fielder,” Royals manager J.J. Picollo said of Waters. “He can really go get it. He’s a speed player. He’s got some stolen bases in his career. That’s something that we think he can continue to get better with.
“Offensively, he was the Double-A MVP in the Southern League a couple of years ago, one of their top prospects — if not their top prospect. So you know there’s offensive upside. He’s 23 years old. He’s a talented athlete that’s still refining some skills.”
Having overseen the scouting department in previous years, Picollo didn’t take for granted trading a draft pick less than a week out from the MLB Draft.
But Picollo is also as aware as anyone that the Royals covet center fielders who show the ability to cover that position in Kauffman Stadium.
Picollo evoked the name of former center fielder Lorenzo Cain, a crucial figure in the club’s back-to-back World Series championship runs in 2014 and 2015 and the franchise’s first championship in 30 years when the Royals won the crown in 2015.
The discussions between the Royals and Braves started a week to 10 days ago with the Braves initiating talks and targeting the Royals’ compensation pick.
Picollo said the Royals were not actively shopping the pick, and he added they “weren’t real excited” about the prospects of trading the pick, initially. He also indicated that the Braves including a third prospect helped put the deal over the top on Sunday night.
Taking the compensation pick out of the equation also takes a slot value of $2.2 million out of the draft bonus pool for the Royals.
“Being very candid, I didn’t think this deal would come together,” Picollo said. “That what makes this so interesting. But when you have a motivated partner, as Atlanta was, you start to realize this is a real thing.”
More dealing to come?
With the MLB trade deadline three weeks away, it’s difficult not to look at every roster move through the prism of what it might mean for potential deals.
The Royals have a relatively young core of players in rookies Bobby Witt Jr., MJ Melendez and Vinnie Pasquantino as well as a cadre of pitchers who they’re building around. The thought and popular speculation has been that most of their veterans may be available on the trade market for the right deal as the Royals look to the future.
“I think we just have to, like we’ve been doing, read what’s going on and be aware of what teams may be looking to do and how we match up,” Picollo said. “If it works out, that’s great. We don’t feel the extreme need that we have to move any players. We feel like we’re in a good spot. We know where the interest lies from other teams right now. Now, it’s a matter of them assessing how willing they are.”
Of course, that’s also a posture an executive would likely take if trying to force the hand of potential trade partner to maximize the return.
Royals center field plans
While Waters certainly appears the presumptive center fielder of the future, the Royals don’t seem inclined to rush him to the majors.
“Waters is in Triple-A and he’s having a nice year,” Picollo said. “But there are some things that we think he needs to work on, so we’re going to be patient with him.”
One train of thought might lead to the assumption that Waters’ presence makes the Royals more likely to trade current center fielder Michael A. Taylor.
But with Taylor, 31, still under contract through next season and Waters still needing time in the minors, it could be that the Royals are best served by holding onto Taylor.
“We still have a little ways to go with all these players to finish their development,” Picollo said.
Taylor won a Gold Glove last season and was rated among the best defensive players in the majors, regardless of position or league, in his first year with the Royals.
This season, Taylor has had one of the best years of his career at the plate. He entered Monday’s doubleheader slashing .265/.342/.382 with five home runs and 12 total extra-base hits in 63 games. His walk rate of 10.3 percent is the highest of his career.
In his first 30 games since coming off the IL following a bout with COVID-19, Taylor has slashed .291/.351/.427.
The Royals’ other major-league center fielders, Kyle Isbel and Edward Olivares, are both better suited for corner outfield positions, particularly at Kauffman Stadium.
Olivares has athleticism that profiles well in center field, but he has been prone to poor routes and jumps in the outfield.
Isbel should be an above average defender in either of the corner spots, and can play center field well on a fill-in basis. The difference defensively in having a true center fielder would be more apparent if Isbel were manning that spot on a daily basis, particularly following in Taylor’s footsteps.
Hoffman and Alexander
Picollo also expressed excitement about the other two prospects acquired in Monday’s trade, right-handed pitcher Andrew Hoffman and infielder/outfielder C.J. Alexander.
“With Hoffman, it’s really interesting because he’s was a 12th-rounder last year and now you turn around and he’s having a great year,” Picollo said. “Our scouts liked him last year. He’s added a slider to our repertoire. It’s much better than what we saw as an amateur, and he just got promoted to Double-A a couple days ago and we’re going to start him at the same spot.”
While Abrams is an older player for the Double-A level — he’ll turn 26 in less than a week — the Royals see potential in his metrics.
“He’s put up good offensive numbers,” Picollo said. “He’s got power. We like his hard-hit rates. We think he’s a corner guy, primarily a third baseman, a little bit of first base, and then he’ll play left and right. But we’ll learn that as we go.”
This story was originally published July 11, 2022 at 9:35 PM.
